Week 14 Sunday started with a slumber, but for a brief window, the Bengals, Bills, and Bears brought the plays necessary to bemuse the audience

Don’t lie, you were bored at 6:15 p.m. EST.

The games that you expected to be entertaining in the 1 p.m EST slate — Las Vegas Raiders vs. Kansas City Chiefs, Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Football Team, and Baltimore Ravens vs. Cleveland Browns — turned out to be disappointments. The Chiefs pounded the Raiders, the Ravens lost Lamar Jackson to injury in the first half and did nothing with a late onside kick recovery, and that game at FedEx Field was all Cowboys until a terrible fourth quarter turnover brought Washington within seven points.

But after 6:15 p.m. EST, Week 14 took a turn. The Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills went on a run, and during the first half of Sunday Night Football the Chicago Bears hounded the Green Bay Packers like a foul smell in the kitchen.

Of the 10 hours of NFL football on Sunday, a few hours of Marvel Cinematic Universe-level action nearly made up for a day that fans would’ve enjoyed better if they were asleep.

In Zac Taylor’s three seasons as Bengals coach, they were 0-23 when trailing at the end of the third quarter. The 49ers converted a 3rd and 2 to begin the fourth quarter and then their offense took a meal break.

Up 20-6, the Niners did not score for the rest of the fourth quarter and a Joe Burrow to Ja’Marr Chase connection tied the game for the Bengals. Chase made two acrobatic fourth-quarter touchdown catches that could’ve won him a medal in gymnastics at the summer Olympics, and Burrow one for archery.

Their success continued into overtime, but then the offense got tight and ended up settling for the field goal. On the 49ers’ next drive they would go down field and score a touchdown. Niners win 26-23.

The 49ers’ win improved their record to 7-6 with their fourth win in their last five games, and they now have the sixth seed in the NFC playoffs. Their record is the same as the Bengals’, who at one time this season were leading their division and now have the same record as five teams in the AFC. A game like this between two teams with an unsettled playoff status was going to hurt one of them badly.

While the loss was a setback for the Bengals, it did show that just like the 49ers, they have enough talent to compete with any team in their conference in a one-game sample.

The Bengals and 49ers weren’t the only teams that went to overtime during the Week 14 Sunday evening slate. For a time, their overtime game was side by side with the Bills and the Buccaneers. For those with NFL RedZone, your witching hour might have come a few hours late, but the entertainment value more than made up for it.

The Bills were down 17 points on the road with 11:30 remaining in the fourth quarter. Then Josh Allen put up one of his best performances of the 2021. He reminded everyone why he was an MVP candidate early this season by taking over the game.

Allen scrambled, hit his checkdown targets, and made plays downfield. The Bills put up 17 unanswered points, scoring on every drive the rest of the fourth quarter. Allen finished the game with 308 yards passing and two touchdowns with a 66.7 completion percentage, along with 109 yards rushing and a touchdown while averaging 9.1 yards per carry.

Unfortunately for the Bills, it wasn’t enough as they went three and out on their first overtime possession. The Buccaneers then benefited from a questionable pass interference penalty and scored the walk-off touchdown.

It’s the Bills second consecutive loss which has them clinging to the final playoff spot in the AFC as one of the five teams with a 7-6 record. For Bills Mafia, that loss was a miserable experience that might make them wish Bubba and D’Von Dudley threw them through a table. For the rest of us, it gets no better than dueling overtime games to lead us into the final game of the day.

Oh and Tom Brady is 33-3 vs. the Bills.

Bills vs. Buccaneers, ended a matter of minutes before 8 p.m. EST, so, for those who stuck around for the RedZone touchdown montage after the Buccaneers winning score, it was only 15 minutes until Carrie Underwood bellowed through your speakers about how deeply she has been waiting all day for Sunday night.

Just after 8:22 p.m. EST the Packers kicked the ball off to the Bears who were an 11.5 point underdog in rookie quarterback Justin Fields’ first start since suffering a rib injury on Nov. 21. The Bears ended the first quarter with a 3-0 lead, and then things got weird.

In a game in which the over/under was set at 37.5, 45 points total were scored in the second quarter. The Bears, who have been wishing on a star for big plays for most of this season, scored touchdowns on plays of 46, 54, and 97 yards in the second quarter.

The Packers, however, were not about to be outdone on their home field on national television. They took a Fields interception 55 yards to the house for a score in the second quarter, and during a two-minute drill, Aaron Rodgers threw for 75 yards in four plays to lead the Packers to a touchdown.

The Bears would then take advantage of a great kickoff return and go down the field in 44 seconds to kick a field goal and go into halftime with a 27-21 lead.

That was it for America’s Sunday evening entertainment. The Bears ended up losing the game 45-30 like the non-playoff team they are to the Super Bowl contender that the Packers are.

Week 14 Sunday started boring, continued dull, and ended predictably, but for about a four hour stretch the NFL was as good as it could possibly get.